Alex Trelinski
A JOB lot of 41 fake or unattributable paintings and prints including works ascribed to Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali have been seized by Valencian regional police.
They were destined to be auctioned off in Valencia for at least €1.2 million.
Other forgeries included copies of works by Joaquin Sorolla, Federico de Madrazo, and Ignacio Zuloaga.
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The cornerstone of the portfolio were 14 paintings by pop-artist Andy Warhol which had a starting price of €893,000.
The centrepiece was the face of Chinese communist leader Mao Tse Tung with an approximate value of half-a-million euros.
It was allegedly one of many iconic images of Mao produced by the New York artist.
Other subjects for sale included actress Marilyn Monroe and President John F. Kennedy.
Antonio Lopez from the Historical Heritage division of the Valencian police, said the collection all belonged to a retired man who decided to sell it to a Valencia auction house.
“All the pieces were signed and belonged to the same owner, who said he bought them as originals four or five decades ago from different sellers or gallery owners,” commented Lopez.
The auction house head decided to check on the authenticity of what was being offered before publicising the collection.
For example, the widow of artist Hernandez Mompo confirmed that his signature had been forged.
Eight other works were confirmed by family members to be fakes.
Police colleagues in Barcelona and Salvador Dali experts analysed the works of the flamboyant Spaniard and could not say for certain they were genuine.
Lopez added that there might be some of the package that were ‘originals’ but in most cases, authenticity has not been able to be verified.
The owner of the paintings has given a statement as an ‘investigated person’ over the alleged crimes of fraud and against intellectual property, though he has not been arrested.
Fakes and copies are normally destroyed or are specially marked and returned to their owner, or stored in the Police and Police Education Museum.
